1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a decorative mug, and more particularly pertains to a decorative mug or cup which is designed to be sold and utilized with a decorative character skin or decorative display thereon. The decorative character skin or decorative display can be removed from the mug for placement of the mug in a dishwasher for cleaning or microwave oven for microwave heating, such that the decorative character skin or decorative display is not ruined, degraded or adversely affected by the washing or microwave heating operation.
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
The prior art discloses a large variety of decorative mugs or cups which are decorated with a myriad of designs such as dinosaurs, animals and other decorative designs.
For instance, Chan U.S. Pat. No. 5,614,275 discloses a high-relief, resiliently flexible, composite molded plastic mug or cup comprising a relatively rigid injection-molded core cup member having a handle and a sleeve-receiving end or section with a pair of opposed inwardly facing, axially spaced apart shoulders. A decorative plastic sleeve member defines a pair of opposed outwardly facing sleeve shoulders. The sleeve member is mounted on the cup member with the sleeve shoulders interengaged with the core cup shoulders to secure the sleeve to the cup.
The composite mug or cup disclosed by Chan is basically designed with a two piece construction to allow the two pieces to be separately molded, with the core cup member being injection molded and the decorative sleeve member being rotationally molded. The two separately molded piece are then assembled together by the manufacturer and sold to a consumer.
The Chan two piece construction is not designed to be disassembled by the consumer, and is not designed for easy release or removal of the decorative plastic sleeve from the central cup, similar to the present invention, to enable just the cup without the decorative plastic sleeve to be placed in a dishwasher or microwave oven.
As described in Chan, the top of a flexible handle is molded to the core cup, and the bottom of the handle includes a latching protrusion, such that the handle can be bent and flexed to engage the latching protrusion with a mating recess in the core cup. Moreover, the decorative sleeve is designed with smaller dimensions than the central cup such that the decorative sleeve must be elastically stretched to be placed upon the central cup.
It is readily apparent from the description in the Chan patent that the decorative sleeve is designed to be stretched and placed around the central cup, and the handle flexed and latched during manufacture of the cup. In fact, the patent only describes a mounting operation, and does not describe a dismounting or removal operation of the decorative sleeve from the cup. Thus, the decorative sleeve and central cup are not designed for easy removal by a consumer of the decorative sleeve from the central cup, similar to the present invention, such that only the central cup can be placed in a dishwasher or microwave oven.
Accordingly, it is a primary object of the present invention to provide a decorative mug.
A further object of the subject invention is the provision of a decorative mug or cup which is designed to be sold and utilized with a decorative character skin or decorative display thereon. The decorative character skin or decorative display can be readily and easily removed from the mug for placement of the mug in a dishwasher for cleaning or microwave oven for microwave heating, such that the decorative character skin or decorative display is not ruined, degraded or adversely affected by the washing or microwave heating operation.
In accordance with the teachings herein, the present invention provides a decorative mug comprising a substantially cylindrically shaped mug body with a closed bottom and an open top for holding a quantity of liquid therein. A mug handle extends from a top portion of the cylindrical mug body to enable a user to grasp the character mug by the handle.
In a first embodiment, the top portion of the cylindrical mug body also defines a top annular lip extending circumferentially therearound having a diameter which is slightly larger than the diameter of the cylindrical mug body. The bottom portion of the cylindrical mug body defines an exterior threaded portion having threads extending circumferentially therearound. A detachable cap-shaped mug bottom has an internal threaded portion extending circumferentially around the interior thereof, such that the mug bottom can threadedly engage and screw onto the exterior threaded portion of the cylindrical mug body. The mug bottom defines a bottom annular lip extending circumferentially threrearound and having a diameter which is slightly larger than the diameter of the cylindrical mug body. A character skin defines a decorative character and has a circular or cylindrical shaped aperture extending therethrough which is substantially the same diameter as the diameter of the cylindrical mug body. The character skin is positioned around the cylindrical mug body and is secured in position relative to the cylindrical mug body between the top annular lip on the cylindrical mug body and the bottom annular lip on the detachable mug bottom.
In a second embodiment, the mug bottom defines a downwardly extending substantially clear decorative display housing which encloses a decorative display therein.
The threaded engagement of the mug bottom to the cylindrical mug body allows the mug bottom to be easily and conveniently threadedly disengaged from the cylindrical mug body to allow the character skin or decorative display to be easily removed from the cylindrical mug body. This allows just the cylindrical mug body to be placed into a dishwasher or microwave oven, without the character skin or decorative display, such that the character skin or decorative display is not adversely affected by a washing operation or a microwave heating operation. It also allows the cylindrical mug body and detachable mug bottom to be sold and used with a variety of different decorative character skins or a variety of decorative displays.
In greater detail, in the first embodiment the character skin can be molded from a resilient material such as a rubber, plastic or flexible metallic type of material and can have decorative character features painted thereon, such that the resilient character skin and painted decorative character features might be adversely affected by a washing operation of a dishwasher or a microwave heating operation of a microwave oven.
In the second embodiment, the clear decorative display housing can enclose decorative figurines, decorative sand, etc. The clear housing can be filled with a gas such as air or an inert gas, or can enclose a suitable liquid, with a shakeable snow flake type of display, or with decorative figurines such as fish, divers, mermaids, underwater craft, etc. suspended therein.
The cylindrical mug body with the top annular lip, the mug handle and the exterior threaded portion can be molded from plastic as one integral molded piece. The detachable mug bottom with the bottom annular lip and the internal threaded portion can also be molded from plastic as one integral molded piece. The character skin can be a high-relief, three dimensional, resiliently flexible, composite molded decorative product.